Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The White Hindu

Home
Hindu
Why is Presence So Difficult?

Why is Presence So Difficult?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:36 pm by Ambaa Choate

Why is Presence So Difficult? 2015-03-13T22:36:11-04:00 Ambaa Choate

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The dirty little secret about meditation, presence, and mindfulness is that it’s hard work!

Somehow we seem to think that “doing nothing” should come really easily and so we tend to get easily frustrated and give up when we struggle to get into meditation or even just into the present moment.

It is really difficult to stay present. I’ve been practicing it my whole life, yet I rarely am truly in the present.

You can feel when it’s working (and I think there are a lot of people who have never experienced being truly completely in the present). For me when I come into the present, suddenly the world feels much more 3D. I know that sounds weird! But it’s like objects become sharper and the space between objects starts to feel solid. Sounds are all over. And even pain doesn’t seem to exist in the present. In the few times I’ve managed to come fully into the present moment, I’ve found that pain almost entirely disappears because in that moment there is no build up of pain from previous minutes and no expectation of ongoing pain into the future minutes.

It’s so difficult to put into words, but it is really a startling thing to experience.

I wish I could do it more often. Yet I only manage it very occasionally. I think my mind is really afraid of me doing it more. Afraid that I won’t need it as much. It wants to think its thoughts. It doesn’t want to pause for even a minute or two!

***

Have you done your four minutes of meditation today?

This week is meditation week, check out the rest of the posts:

We Know We Should Meditate

What Gurus Say About Meditation

How Meditation Helps Us Deal With Stress Later

Why is Presence So Hard?

The One Simple Trick To Meditation

Philosophy Corner

ambaa

benefits of meditation

benefits to meditation

breath awareness

find time to meditate

finding time to meditate

meditation for beginners

meditation guide

meditation techniques

mindfulness meditation

transcendental meditation

Previous Post

June 19, 2013

How Meditation Helps Us Deal With Stress Later

Next Post

June 21, 2013 The One Simple Trick to Meditation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Club Hindu Holiday How Am I Being a Hindu This Week? Inside the Life Meet a God Meet a Guru Movie Club Philosophy Corner Resources Scripture Uncategorized Wild Card

Select a Month February 2020 September 2019 May 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Ruth was from Moab and chose to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE